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On April 26, 1901 the Supreme Court of the state of North Dakota, in the case of Robert against Fargo Gas & Electric Co and the city of Fargo, ruled that the contract between the city of Fargo and Fargo Gas & Electric Co was void. This ruling was made by the Supreme Court for reasons that the city charter states that the city cannot make a contract for more than a year.[1] The contract between Fargo Gas &a

Fargo has grown immensely and gone through numerous changes in its 142-year history. Growing from just over 2,500 people in 1880 to over 107,000 today and surviving such natural disasters as fires, floods and tornadoes; nothing has been able to stop Fargo from thriving. Fargo’s downtown has always been a thriving business mecca[1] of the Red River Valley and is a key reason Fargo has survived to be the city it is tod

This slideshow features historic photographs of several of the churches of Fargo, accompanied by recent photographs, which allow for side-by-side comparison. The recent photographs were taken by Scott Becklund in 2012. Mr. Becklund attempted to recreate the original location and angle of the archival photographs. Most of the churches retain some of their original character, while some have been demolished. 1. Elim Lu

The history of bridges in the Fargo area is only half the tale. Much like neighbors deciding how to split the cost of labor and materials on a fence, the city of Moorhead had just as much invested into bridge building as Fargo did. Needless to say, the meetings between Fargo and Moorhead officials got heated at times. The back and forth went from petty accusations to downright grudge matches, but in the end it all wo

From the city’s conception, Fargo officials have had to struggle with issues dealing with maintaining and funding the city streets. The wet season brought deep ruts in the sticky North Dakota clay making travel tough and some streets inaccessible. Grading the streets of Fargo began in 1875 and paying for it fell to the citizens. Every male between 21 and 60 years old who was able to work paid with one day’s la

Sidewalks were one of the important issues at the top of the “to-do” list that the Fargo City Council had to stay on top of. Wet weather and sticky North Dakota clay played an important role in the urgency of addressing this issue. Most sidewalks were six feet wide, but streets like Broadway, Northern Pacific Avenue, as well as other streets with heavy foot traffic were equipped with ten-foot sidewalks.[1] In 1875 th

In 1878, Henry Hector, just 17 years old, arrived in the Fargo-Moorhead area at the request of his brother Martin and started a grocery business.[1] He lost his store to a fire in 1882, but successfully rebuilt and continued his business. He served as the president of the Continental Hose Company and represented the Second Ward on the city council. Henry married the sister of his brother’s wife, Mary Paulson. Henry

Like other religious groups, Lutherans populated the landscape in large numbers, which brought about the need for a communal place of worship. Members established a church in which they aptly named First Lutheran Church, located in the area of 400 Roberts Street. The church was built with an open porch and there were several wooden homes built next to this church. As with most of the other early religious structure

First, this picture of the First Methodist Church indicates that it was built in a dense growth of older trees. This would indicate that it was taken close to water and not deep into the prairie. Therefore, there was no retreat for the early settlers of Fargo if faced with outside threats. Next, the windows are exposed and remarkably made of stained glass. Not only were the new settlers resilient, but they showed

When Episcopal Bishop William D. Walker was appointed, he chose Fargo as his See City and Gethsemane Church became Gethsemane Cathedral. In 1893, the church was located on the southeastern corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street South and had 175 members. The Rev. F.B. Nash Jr. was the rector. The building was the only wooden Episcopal cathedral in the United States.[1]Gethsemane Heather Brinkman, Digital History

The Unitarian Church was organized in February of 1890. It was located on the corner of Ninth Street South and Second Avenue. This photo was taken in 1899 and Richmond Fisk, D.D. was the minster at the time.[1]Unitarian Church Heather Brinkman, Digital History 2012 [1] Caron, John. “Fargo, N.D., History Exhibition, Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU.” Fargo, N.D., History Exhibition, Institute for Regional Studies

Rev. W.F. Ulery came to Fargo in 1885 to start a Lutheran church whose services were done in English as all of the services offered in the area where in the people’s native tongues. He persuaded the Southern Railway Depot to allow him to use their building to teach Sunday School. During his two years of teaching Sunday school he raised the $2,000 needed to build a church proper on a three lots on the corner o

On December 14, 1877 25 charter members met in the home of G. Johnson to organize this church and came up with the name Pontoppidan Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The name was changed in 1878 to the First Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fargo and changed again only a month later to Pontoppidan Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The foundation of the church was laid in August

On April 25, 1885 the Plymouth Congregational Church was organized by Revered William Ewing. The congregation had 10-12 original members, but by 1893 it had grown to 50 members with Reverend A.H. Tebbets as its pastor. Reverend O.C. Clark built the first church on Ninth Ave North near Tenth Street, but the building was moved to the west side of Broadway between 8th ave and 9th ave in 1884. That building was blown

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The Fargo History Project

This project began as part of a Fall 2012 Digital History class at NDSU. With the goal of exploring Fargo’s history between 1871 and 1897, students visited libraries and archives to search for clues to the city’s history. Future classes will conduct further research and add to the site.

Do you know some interesting tidbits about Fargo’s history? Share them with us by posting a comment or sending an email. We welcome your participation as we explore our past.